Washington Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette gave updates today on some of his injured players, noting that defenseman Nick Jensen will be a game-time decision tonight against the St. Louis Blues. He also mentioned that forward Sonny Milano will draw back into the lineup after missing two games with a non-COVID illness.
Capitals Rumors
Washington Capitals Reassign Joe Snively
March 15: Two days later, the Capitals have returned Snively to the AHL. Ovechkin proved he was at full strength last night by taking home the first star and scoring career goal 817.
March 14: The Washington Capitals announced they have recalled Joe Snively from the Hershey Bears. The 5-foot-9 forward has split this season between the Capitals and Bears and looks to be getting another shot at the NHL lineup.
Signed by the Capitals in 2019 following an outstanding college career at Yale, Snively has played eight games with the Capitals this season, scoring one goal and three points. He has become a key contributor for the Bears where he has scored seven goals and 16 points in 20 games this season. The 27-year-old left winger scored 38 points in 35 AHL games in 2021-22 and had seven points in 12 NHL contests that season.
Tom Gulitti of NHL.com reports this recall could have something to do with Sonny Milano missing practice yesterday due to an illness. If Milano is unable to play, it appears Snively could slide into the lineup to replace him. Alex Ovechkin also missed practice yesterday but that was just a maintenance day which usually means the player is still ready for game action.
The Capitals face the New York Rangers tonight and though they were sellers at the trade deadline, the Caps are just five points back of the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.
Injury Notes: Ovechkin, Stamkos, Morrissey
Shortly after the announcement that Alex Ovechkin would be a game-time decision for the Washington Capitals tonight, the team confirmed that their captain will be sitting out with a lower-body injury. This will only be the 53rd game that Ovechkin has missed due to injury in his entire career.
The Capitals chose to be sellers at the deadline, but they still sit only a few points back of the Eastern Conference wild-card race. As they looked to pick up a crucial two points against their Metropolitan rival tonight, it will now be even more difficult without their top scorer in the lineup. Replacing Ovechkin in the lineup will be recent callup, Joe Snively. Although Snively has yet to score at a consistent level in the NHL, he has been a very productive forward for the Capitals’ AHL affiliate Hershey Bears.
Other notes:
- Similar to Washington, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that their captain will also be sitting out tonight with a lower-body injury. During a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on March 11th, Steven Stamkos awkwardly collided with Blackhawks forward Joey Anderson, sending him to the dressing room for the remainder of the game. Although he did play Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets, he will not play in tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils, likely to make sure his left leg has fully recovered.
- After sitting out on Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet reports that Jets’ defenseman Josh Morrissey will not play in tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes as well. In his absence, the Jets will give depth defenseman Kyle Capobianco the nod as he will replace Morrissey in the lineup.
Capitals Notes: Ovechkin, Milano, Snively
In a recent tweet thread from Roman Stubbs of the Washington Post, he shares that Washington captain Alex Ovechkin will be a game-time decision for the team’s game tonight against the New York Rangers. After recording an assist in their most recent win against the New York Islanders, it was noted that Ovechkin did not participate in the team’s practice the next day for ’maintenance’. Stubbs shares that Ovechkin appears to be dealing with a lower-body issue, and head coach Peter Laviolette will wait to make a decision on the Russian forward.
Other notes:
- Included in the thread, Stubbs mentions that Capitals’ forward Sonny Milano is confirmed to be out of the lineup tonight, as he is dealing with a ’non-Covid illness’. Replacing Milano in the lineup is young forward Aliaksei Protas. In 43 games so far this season, Protas has provided the Capitals with three goals and seven assists. Although he does not provide the same level of depth scoring as Milano, the Capitals are in a position this year to give a few more games and minutes to their younger players.
- After being recalled this morning on an emergency basis, Stubbs confirms that Joe Snively will play if Ovechkin is unable to. Becoming one of the best players on their AHL affiliate Hershey Bears over the last couple of seasons, Snively may be able to show what he can do at the NHL level against a very good Rangers team.
Capitals Will Look For Top-Six Forward In Offseason
- With how well Rasmus Sandin has played in the early going for the Washington Capitals, the team may have found an inexpensive option for big minutes on the blueline next year. As Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic writes, that would open up money for the team’s biggest offseason target, a top-six forward (or two). The group currently has Craig Smith, Conor Sheary, Connor Brown, and Carl Hagelin all scheduled for unrestricted free agency this summer, opening up plenty of room for a significant addition.
Capitals Sign Trevor Van Riemsdyk To Three-Year Extension
It was a bit surprising at first that the Capitals didn’t move defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk as a rental at the deadline. However, GM Brian MacLellan said that he didn’t move him since he hoped to sign the blueliner to a new contract. Mission accomplished on that front as the team announced they’ve signed van Riemsdyk to a three-year extension that carries an AAV of $3MM. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that the deal breaks down as follows:
2023-24: $1MM signing bonus, $2.75MM salary
2024-25: $1MM signing bonus, $2MM salary
2025-26: $1.25MM signing bonus, $1MM salary
The 31-year-old is in his third season with Washington and has worked his way from being a depth defender to one that has become a quality every-game piece. He has played in all 66 games this season – the only Capitals defender to do so – and has set new career highs in goals (seven) and points (19) while logging 19:00 per game, his highest ATOI since his first full NHL campaign back with Chicago in 2015-16. Van Riemsdyk also leads the Caps with 146 blocked shots, good for seventh in that stat league-wide.
For those efforts, van Riemsdyk is landing a sizable raise. The AAV on this new deal actually exceeds the total earnings that he received over his first three seasons combined; he’s wrapping up a two-year agreement that carried a cap hit of just $950K, a considerable bargain relative to his performance thus far.
Washington has been busy when it comes to the back end lately. They moved out long-time veteran Dmitry Orlov at the trade deadline while bringing in Rasmus Sandin in a separate deal that also moved out pending UFA Erik Gustafsson. Sandin joins Alexander Alexeyev and Martin Fehervary (both pending RFAs this summer) as 23-year-olds now playing regular roles in the lineup at the moment while they’ve now handed van Riemsdyk and Nick Jensen three-year extensions as bridge veterans that could see their playing time drop when the youngsters are ready to supplant them on the depth chart. Those players will join John Carlson in what should be a fairly stable defense corps for 2023-24 and beyond as the Capitals look to retool fairly quickly over embarking on a longer-scale rebuild.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Poll: Who Will Be The Wild Card Teams In The Eastern Conference?
Now that the NHL and AHL trade deadlines have passed, the league is full speed ahead toward the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. With between 15-18 games left in the regular season, there are only nine points separating the seventh-place and 13th-place teams in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
If the season ended today, the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins would cross the finish line as the wild-card winners in the East. In their last ten games, respectively, the Islanders are 7-2-1, while the Penguins are 5-4-1. Whether or not they have the rosters to get it done, both teams made moves at the deadline in hopes of making the playoffs this year.
Following behind them, the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators are making the strongest case to move past the Islanders and Penguins. In their last ten, the Panthers are 6-4-0, while the Senators are 7-3-0. The Panthers are not the same dominant team that they were last year, but they still have an extremely talented roster led by Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk.
The Senators are following a much different course. After a few seasons of rebuilding, the Senators are finally a fun hockey team to watch again. After signing Claude Giroux and making a trade for Alex DeBrincat, the Senators had hope for meaningful games in April at the beginning of the season. Starting slow out of the gate, it seems this team has put it all together as the season has progressed. By acquiring top trade candidate Jakob Chychrun at the deadline, the Senators have the team to bring the Eastern wild-card race down to the wire.
Rounding out the last of the group that could theoretically reach the playoffs, the Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, and Detroit Red Wings are still within striking distance. The Capitals and Red Wings both chose to sell at the deadline, while the Sabres’ biggest move was acquiring Jordan Greenway from the Minnesota Wild. The Sabres have a similar aura around them as the Senators, after they too have an exciting team after years of rebuilding. However, all three of these teams have a losing record in their last ten games, with the Sabres’ last game being a 10-4 blowout loss to the Dallas Stars.
So who will it be PHR readers? Cast your vote and let us know which two teams will win the wild-card race in the East.
Washington Capitals Loan Vincent Iorio to AHL
The Washington Capitals have loaned defenseman Vincent Iorio back to their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. This will place Iorio back to where he’s spent most of this season, having played 51 games at the AHL level.
Iorio, 20, is a 2021 second-round pick who has been with the Capitals for about a week. He played in his first three NHL games in that timeframe, getting between 12 and 15 minutes in each contest. He even registered his first NHL point, getting an assist in the Capitals’ 8-3 rout of the San Jose Sharks.
The six-foot-four former Brandon Wheat Kings is in his first season as a professional and has impressed with his mature play in the AHL. Iorio has registered just six penalty minutes despite playing a defense-first game, and while his 17 points in 51 games don’t jump off the page, he appears to be getting closer to NHL readiness.
Now, he’ll get to head back to Hershey for possibly the rest of their season, helping ready them for what the team hopes will be a long Calder Cup playoff run.
Latest On Connor Brown
- Washington Capitals forward Connor Brown skated before the team’s practice this morning, according to the Washington Post’s Roman Stubbs. Brown is around five months removed from the ACL surgery he underwent earlier this season, with the procedure expected to knock him out for the Capitals’ season. While it’s likely too late for him to factor into the Capitals’ season, progress in his recovery is important to note given that he is a pending unrestricted free agent, and despite his consistent performance, his health is likely to be a major question mark as he heads into the open market.
John Carlson Joins Practice Again
- John Carlson was on the ice again today for the Washington Capitals, as he continues to recover from the head injury he suffered earlier this season. Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic reports that the defenseman joined the scratches’ skate, albeit in a non-contact sweater. A more significant update is still expected in the next few days.